Terok Nor
by doubtingJulia
Summary: A soap opera like epic about Terok Nor during the last years of the Bajoran Occupation
1. Chapter One

Terok Nor: Chapter One

Author: doubtingJulia

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I don't own Terok Nor or most other things in the story. Don't sue me please, I have nothing. You can have my debt if you really want.

Terok Nor.

It orbited the Cardassian Colony world of Bajor. The mineral ore that was mined from the planet was processed there before going on to be used to built the great ships of the Cardassian Navy. Cardassia depended on Bajor not only for uridium and other natural recourses but also for food to feed the ever-expanding population.

The work to produce these things was done mainly by the native Bajorans, who were quite a different species from the Cardassians, having smooth skin in varying shades and being habitually slim and tall. Their most distinguishing feature was the series of small ridges on the bridge of the nose that ranged in number from four to seven. They were also well known for their strongly held religious beliefs. The planet had been annexed into the Cardassian Union only fifty years before and had not yet been fully integrated. This was mostly due to the Bajorans themselves. Initial scepticism at the Cardassian's motives soon turned into large-scale insurrection. These insurgents managed to be a great annoyance to the occupational forces and succeeded in disrupting many operations. Even on Terok Nor, on which the Bajor population was kept under even tighter control than on the surface, sabotage was a constant problem.

The majority of the Bajorans on the station had been impressed into service in constructing the station and then later in ore processing itself. A few had come voluntarily and there were a small number sparsely supplied shop and other services in the part of the station to which Bajorans were confined.

The station's importance greatly increased after Gul Dukat, then the newly appointed Prefect of Bajor, had moved the centre of power there from Jalanda, the planetary Capital. This action greatly increased the Cardassian population of the station as many major and minor occupational officials followed their commander there. Very few civilian Cardassians lived on Terok Nor. Those few that did were there to support the military personnel. A few aliens also ran establishments on the part of the station called the 'Promenade' and the station was a regular stop over point for traders and other travellers entering Cardassian space.

Quark often wondered if he had made the right decision in leaving home and opening his bar in the backwaters of the Cardassian Empire. Cardassians weren't his favourite people in the universe but he like them well enough. He especially liked how they spent a large part of their incomes on food and drink and were horrible gamblers. However, he certainly didn't like Bajorans, even if they worked long hours for almost nothing. Ferengis, as a rule, didn't like poor people. But they were desperate and as the 32nd Rule of Acquisition clearly said: "Desperate Employees are Good for Business." Everyday at least five of them came to ask him for work. He didn't let most of them get through the door but it had been a busy day and he was in a good mood so when a young girl show up right after closing he decided right away that he was going to hire her.

"Do you have any experience?" he asked her as he stood behind the bar counting the day's profits. She seemed confused by the question.

"Washing dishes?" she asked. Quark couldn't believe how slow these Bajorans were. He gave a theatrical sigh.

"Yes. That's what you want to be hired for isn't it."

"I've always been very good at washing things." There wasn't a hint of sarcasm in her voice; her tone was deferential and she kept her eyes cast down. She was desperate all right.

"You start tomorrow." Chuckling inwardly at her shocked expression he took her identification card over to the computer terminal and registered her as working in his establishment. "And you'll get six slips of latinum a week and two five minute breaks every day." Six slips of latinum wasn't enough to buy even one drink at this very bar but it was far better than what she would make anywhere else on the station, legally anyway.

The girl looked up at him for the first time. Quark was a poor judge of alien beauty and he had never considered Bajorans to be attractive in general but he did have to admit that this girl had very intriguing dark eyes.

"Thank you." She said, "You're very generous." To a Ferengi being called generous was a grave insult but after so many years among aliens he was use to such cultural misunderstandings. He decided he liked this Bajoran, she understood the importance of sucking up to the boss.

He stepped out from behind the bar and gave her card back to her.

"We open at 10h00 so be here at 8." She nodded. "You can go now."

As the girl walked towards the door Quark called back to her.

"Wait. What's your name?" She stopped and turned.

"Miya.¨ she said, looking at the floor again.

"And I'm Quark." He smiled, revealing all of his small pointed teeth.

She looked confused again and perhaps a bit disgusted.

"I...I know that." She was suddenly so nervous that Quark burst out laughing, which only seemed to scare her more.

"Forget it," He said, "just be here tomorrow." She wasted no time getting back out onto the Promenade.

The Ferengi businessman chuckled and got back to counting his profits and decided that things here on Terok Nor weren't so bad.

Fenn Miya had her papers checked no less than three times as she made her way back to the fence through the Cardassian side of the station. She had been out of the Bajoran Sector before but she always found it uncomfortable. There were far fewer people here but it seemed noisier and even a little hostile. Now she would walk this way everyday. She was seventeen and thin, like all Bajorans. She wasn't very pretty but she was very proud of her long black hair, which she wore half tied up and flowing down her back.

Miya was in quite a good mood. She was quite shocked that she was given regular work so easily, and in the Ferengi's bar too. He only hired a few Bajorans, mostly to do the cleaning up, but they were probably the most wanted jobs on the station. The pay was good, in comparison, and the work was not as hard or humiliating as most work was. Still, she didn't relish having to deal with the mostly Cardassian costumers or having to look at the Ferengi all the time. She didn't like the way he had smiled at her.

The bored looking guard at the gate checked her through without even looking at her. The Promenade in the Bajoran Sector, which the locals called the Galtera, wasn't that crowed since it was the middle of the shift in the ore-processing centre where most of the inhabitants worked. Her uncle worked there, and both of her cousins.

She had had nightmares about ore processing when she was a child. It was a loud, pitch-black inferno; the Cardie overseers worked the Bajoran labourers sometimes to death. Her mother had died down there, years ago, soon after they had first come to the station.

Miya was usually able to find some kind of odd job to do. That kept her safe from the random impressments of the unemployed that occurred every once in a while. She usually made enough to eat every day. Every Bajoran within the Bajoran sector got four meals a week 'courtesy of the Cardassian Union' but they could buy more 'ration points' every week on sixthday at a store front near the fence from an ancient collaborator who was always surrounded by at least five Cardassian guards and kept the line moving painfully slowly. No one was allowed to have more than eight of these meals a week 'in order to ensure more equitable distribution'. Even so there were never enough of the points to go round. Sometimes they didn't sell them and sometimes the free rations were cut down. Dukat, the Prefect and commander of the station, had raised them once, to six a week, just after he was appointed but that didn't last long. One Cardie restaurant owner had permission to sell food on the other side of the Galtera near the docking bay. It was much more expensive there and the food was even worse than the rations. There was also a black-market for fruit and tea, not to mention chemicals, but few people thought about such luxuries. Most had children to worry about feeding. You couldn't say much about Bajorans but they had a prolific birth-rate.

Even at this time of the station-day there was a line to collect rations. There was a line for everything on Terok Nor, they were all use to it by now. She ate the watery soup quickly and put the small piece of Dakur bread in to her pocket for Petya, she was pregnant again. Miya looked at the large chronometer near the food station. I was almost 03h00, if she got back to the community quarters soon she could get a few hours of sleep before the shift change. She was exhausted. She had spent the day hauling things in the main cargo bay and she didn't sleep at all last night.

She made her way down the Galtera as quickly as she could without attracting the attention of the armed guards on the second level. As she approached the long Corridor that lead to the Habitat Ring she slowed down and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible. This was where off-duty Cardassian soldiers liked to come to stand around and leer at the women who walked by. Sometimes they did more than leer. Miya thanked the Prophets everyday that they had, thus far, left her alone. Her sister wasn't so lucky. There was only one of them today. He was leaning against the bulkhead munching on a piece of fruit. Miya could feel his eyes following her until she disappeared from view down the Corridor.

The quarters where Miya's family lived were quite big, but it was also full. More than thirty people lived there. There was her Uncle Cerro, his daughter Lene and his son Keran who was married to Petya. Keran and Petya had met in a detention cell after they were both picked up with some 40 others in a random search. It had been love at first sight and they were married soon afterwards in a silent ceremony between shifts. The Cardassians didn't like their religious ceremonies. Miya had always looked up the Petya and loved her like a mother, even though she was only a few years older than her. She and Keran had a two-year-old daughter named Gimiri. Miya had a sister, Kaylann, who was three years younger than her. They had had a brother, Kaylann's twin, but he died three years ago during a Fostossa virus epidemic. They never talked about him now, just like they never talked about their mother. As for the others, some were her friends whom she had grown up with and some she had never spoken to. She only ever saw her family for a few minutes a day, life on Terok Nor didn't allow for much more than work and sleep.

She found Petya sitting against the wall in the centre room, trying to mend a blanket that was so worn you could see through it. There were seven children in these quarters and Petya took care of them all while their parents worked. At least one of them was almost always ill. Miya wondered when she found time to eat or sleep; now that she was pregnant again she was sick with worry for her.

Petya looked up and smiled when she walked in.

"Did you eat something?" She asked her.

"I had some soup." Miya said, sitting down beside her.

"Then get some sleep." She commanded in a very motherly way after taking the bread that Miya offered her.

There was soft crying coming from one of the four adjacent rooms. Petya got up and when over to where her daughter lay. Miya followed, eager to share her news.

"I went over to the Ferengi's bar and he gave me a job." Petya looked as surprised as Miya thought she would be.

"For how long?"

"I'm not sure, long I hope." Petya was distracted from their conversation by Gimiri tugging on her sleeve.

"Momma I'm hungry!" Gimiri was a beautiful child and looked exactly like her father, with dark, curly hair and a round face, but she had her mother's blue eyes. She was demanding and quick to cry like all two-year-olds but everyone who knew her loved her.

"We'll go soon." Petya told her in a soothing voice. "Go wash your face." The little girl got up and ambled towards the small basin of water in the corner next to the feeble wall light. Close by a boy of about seven was playing with a ball made out of rags. A few sleeping figures were also in the small room, undisturbed by the noise.

Petya turned back to Miya and gave her a look of great concern.

"Be careful. And I'm not just talking about that disgusting Ferengi." Miya wasn't looking forward to be in the presence of so many drunken Spoonheads either but what choice did she have. It was better then ore-processing anyway.

"I'll be alright." She reassured her.

"I hope so...¨ Petya responded quietly. ¨Someone new came in today, I put him in your room." She said, changing the subject. Miya shrugged. There were already about eight people who slept in the same room as her already, she doubted one more would make much difference. It wasn't as if they were all ever there at the same time anyway. Gimiri came back to stand next to her mother and looked up expectantly. "All right let's go." Petya said, taking her daughter up in her arms. "You're coming too Nal" she called to the boy, who was so excited at the idea of food that he jumped up and ran out the door without saying anything. "Go to sleep Miya." She said sternly as she pulled aside the old ragged sheet that served as a door to the quarters and walked out.

Miya yawned and went into her room. Her sister was lying near the door snoring softly and the newcomer, a young man of about sixteen, was already asleep on Miya's usual mat. She shrugged and laid down on one against the wall at the far side of the room. She was asleep in a minute.

A few hours later the low booming sound that signalled the shift change was transmitted through out the entire Bajoran Sector and woke the sleepers. A mass of exhausted people came up from the bellows of the station, swallowed a few mouthfuls of nourishment and then collapsed onto the floor of their small, dark rooms. At the same time, another mass picked themselves up and marched down to take their place. A new day had begun on Terok Nor.

Author's Note:

This is my first fanfic ever and it really is my first attempt at fiction writing since I took that horrible writing class in high school. I know that my transitions are choppy and that my dialog is sometimes confusing and I ask you all for forgiveness. With any luck I will improve with time.

I have quite ambitious plans for this story and many more characters to introduce, including some cannon ones. I know it doesn't seem R worthy at the moment but I can promise it will be.

Please review. It would be nice to know that a few people read this.


	2. Chapter Two

Terok Nor: Chapter Two

Author: doubtingJulia

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I don't own Terok Nor or most other things in the story. Don't sue me please, I have nothing. You can have my debt if you really want.

Gaman Kotar was born into a family of great wealth but little social standing. His grandfather had made a fortune by sinister means and then expanded later in his life into the entertainment industry, increasing his holdings even more. Gaman's father had married the daughter of a cash-strapped aristocrat who made it her mission in life to see that her children were accepted in the highest echelons of Cardassian society. She carefully chose their careers and spouses in view of this goal. Gaman, her youngest son, was sent to the Cardassian Military Academy with the clear knowledge that he was expected to rise very far. Fortunately, military life agreed with him and had no difficulty making an impression with his superiors. Once he had reached a respectable rank in the Military Government bureaucracy his mother married him to the daughter of a member of the Governing Council.

His new wife was a beauty but she was also a shallow and stupid women. They soon had an understanding that they should both stay as far away from each other as they could. They didn't have children for many years, mostly because they barely tried.

After ten years of marriage, and almost twenty in the military. Gul Kotar was appointed governor of Rakantha province on the colony world of Bajor. He and his wife moved into the gubernorial palace where they enjoyed a lifestyle even more luxurious then the one they had had on Cardassia.

The climate in Rakantha province must have agreed with Madam Kotar's disposition because after two years there she finally conceived. Their son, whom they also named Gaman, brought a little bit of life to their marriage and both father and mother conspired to spoil him.

Soon after his birth, little Gaman was given over to the care of a nurse who was to take charge of his early education. In addition, Gul Kotar had a little girl brought in from the nearest refugee camp to perform those tasks that the nurse believed were beneath her dignity. She was a sombre girl of ten, named Tora Naprem.

Naprem adjusted quickly to her new life. Both the nurse and Madam Kotar had the child waiting on them had and foot and neither hesitated to slap her around at the slightest offence, but little Gaman was an affectionate infant and, to Naprem, he made up for any pain she had to suffer.

Gul Kotar was oblivious to her at first, but when she began to grow into the lithe shape Bajoran women were known for he started to, quite casually, take her into his bed. His wife was not so stupid as to be unaware of his infidelity and she did her best to make Naprem´s life as difficult as possible. But that did not deter the gul in the least.

Some time later Madam Kotar was killed by a bomb the Resistance had planted in Gul Kotar´s shuttle. The governor had, of course, been the intended target.

Naprem was by that time a beautiful young woman of fifteen and Gul Kotar found that he had grown rather attached to her. Later that year, when his son was sent to school on Cardassia, he relieved her of her remaining duties and moved her permanently into his private apartments.

She had no love for the gul but was terrified of his ferocious temper, although he could be very generous when he wanted to be. Naprem´s life had taught her to be accepting of her fate, since she could do little to change it.

Naprem had just turned eighteen when the household got the news that Gul Kotar was dead. He had been killed while on a tour of the province's main refugee camp, the one in which Naprem had been born. An angry mob managed to disable his guards and beat him to death. The camp commander executed five hundred of the camp's residence as punishment.

After a few horrible days of uncertainty she received an 'invitation' from Gul Tresarian Dukat, the Director of Counter-Insurgency, to come live with him in Jalanda. He had wanted Naprem ever since he saw her two years before at Gul Kotar house. The other Cardassian had paraded her in front of a few select guests after one of his notoriously boring dinner parties.

Naprem wasn't foolish enough to hesitate for a moment.

Dukat was quite a different man than Kotar. He fancied himself a great romantic and he treated Naprem with something resembling respect and affection. Rather than being put at ease she began to feel a deep guilt. Her Bajoran conscience told her it was the greatest sin to live in luxury with a man who was actively engaged in the genocide of her people. For the first time in her life Naprem considered suicide.

Within six months of moving to Jalanda Naprem discovered she was pregnant. This sent her into a panic. For all his gentleness she was sure that Dukat would never let a half-breed bastard live. Emboldened by maternal instinct she snuck out of the house at night and made her way undetected to her family in the Valteksa Valley Refugee Centre. They were overjoyed to see her after so many years and she was prepared to live the rest of her life in the squalour of the camp. She figured that if Dukat had let her come this far he would not come looking for her.

Of course she was wrong. After four weeks he came and Naprem was dragged into his presence by the camp guards. His anger could have competed with Gul Kotar's but it vanished when Naprem feel to her knees and begged him for the lives of her family and her child. Dukat was shocked that she believed him capable of such cruelty; he promised to take care of her and the baby and then took her back to Jalanda.

To Naprem's great surprise he kept his promise. He was indescribably happy when their daughter was born. He named her Ziyal, after his father's mother. Though he doted on her endlessly, Naprem could not help feel that Ziyal's safety was conditional on her obedience. After that she never again considered suicide.

When Dukat was appointed Prefect of Bajor he moved the government to Terok Nor and Naprem went with him. Ziyal was left on Bajor with the best tutors money could buy and secrecy would allow. Naprem lived in fear of the day when Dukat would grow tired of her and of indulging his illegitimate offspring but she had become very good at never letting her feelings rise to the surface.

Gul Tresarian Dukat enjoyed his job. He liked to know he was making a difference. His appointment as Prefect has meant that Central Command was finally willing to admit that his ideas on dealing with the Bajoran Problem had merit. All it would take was a firm but loving hand , and patience, and Bajor would become a proud part of Cardassia.

Of course it was taking a lot more patience the he had originally hoped, but the Prefect was by no means discouraged. The situation had been so mishandled by his predecessors that it was only natural that it would take time to get back on the right track. He also wasn't surprised when his subordinates told him that it was necessary to open another labour camp on the planet. Discipline, after all, was the only way to break bad habits.

"The plans are for a mining facility with capacity for up to a million labourers." The speaker was Gul Omot, the Director of Law Enforcement.

"I wasn't aware," said Dukat, "that we had had such a increase in the prison population." Omot looked to his friend, Gul Tonsa, Dukat's replacement as Director of Counter-Insurgency, for support.

"That is the maximum capacity Prefect. And it should be remembered at several facilities in that region will become depleted in the next few years." The other officer said. Everyone present knew that within a few years the new camp would be home to four times its 'maximum' population but that was unspoken knowledge that was never mentioned in an official capacity.

Officially every prisoner at every camp on Bajor had been sentence and tried, but in reality a Bajoran was just as likely to end up in the mines after being randomly impressed than after committing a crime. Officially the prisoners were given decent food and medical care, but really they died in their thousands from the most curable illnesses. Officially children were never sentenced to hard labour but that was very much untrue.

The Prefect turned to Glinn Ferain, the Director of Mining Operations, giving him a chance to contribute something. But the younger man continued to stare out the window with a faraway look on his face. It was common knowledge that Ferain found Bajor incredibly boring, did as little work as he possibly could and only owed his position to the fact that his uncle was an important member of Central Command.

They were sitting in the Prefect's office above Terok Nor's Central Operations Centre. Gul Dukat was sitting behind a desk that was specially designed so that he was always higher than those sitting in front of it.

"Very well gentlemen," said Dukat, after making a show of gravely considering the matter. "I think we may begin construction as soon as possible."

The three officers rose and began to make their way out the door.

"Pending the approval of the Bajoran Government of course." The Prefect added, as an afterthought.

"Of course sir." Said Gul Tonsa before turning around and rolling his eyes to his friend as they walked out the door.

From far away the station looked like a giant kenten, one of the microscopic creatures that lived in their billions around the geysers in the south of her home province, but as Reya got closer it looked more like the Wheel of Time, a common motif in Cardassian symbolic art.

Whatever it looked like, she was very excited about her new home. She had never been off Cardassia for more that a few days, now she was going to live on the frontier of the Union. When she was a child, Reya had dreamed of living off world but soon her education and then her career because much more important to her. Now the two had intersected; Bajor was, after all, the perfect place to distinguish yourself. Of course furthering her career wasn't the main reason she had applied to be Chief of Medical Staff on Terok Nor.

There was a small party to greet her when she stepped off the shuttle. One of the men, an older military officer, stepped forward.

"Doctor Basat I presume," he said, taking her hand and raising it to his forehead, the traditional way for a Cardassian to greet a lady. "I am Gul Kabras, Commander of the station. I'm greatly honoured that you chose to join us."

"Thank you Commander, I'm honoured to be here" Reya said formally. She could see Tam standing a little behind the group, he made no move to greet her.

Reya kept her husband in the corner of her eye while she was introduced to the rest of the Command staff. She saw no sign that he was glad to see her, even though they had been apart for more than a year.

"Well," said the Commander cheerfully "I suppose you'll want to get settled in before you start tomorrow."

"Yes indeed" she replied.

"And I imagine you have a lot to talk about, eh Glinn Basat." He addressed Tam this time but he only got a grunt in response.

"Your luggage has already been seen to." Reya gave her thanks. "Until tomorrow Doctor." Gul Kabras gave a bow and walked away. She and her new colleagues exchanged a few pleasantries and then she was alone with her husband. Reya looked at him a little nervously. He didn't say anything just offered her his arm and led her to the turbo lift.

They didn't speak at all until they got to his, no _their_, quarters. It was one room with little more than a bed and a replicator.

"I requested larger quarters but they won't be available until the day after tomorrow." He said

"That's fine." She replied.

Silence.

He finally broke it.

"Do you mind telling me why you went behind my back and got this position?" He asked.

"I didn't mean to go behind your back." She answered, knowing it wouldn't satisfy him.

"Then why did you?"

"I knew you'd try to stop me." She knew how pathetic that had sounded.

"Did you stop to think that maybe I would have had good reason?" he shot back, rather loudly. "Bajor isn't a safe place."

"I'm your wife and we should be together." As bad as she felt for deceiving him she knew she had the moral high ground. "Besides, I have just as much right to risk myself for Cardassia as you do."

He scoffed.

"So you came here out of a sense of duty?"

"Not only that…." She shifted her weight from one leg to the other, suddenly nervous. "I want to have children Tam."

His expression softened immediately and he took her hands in his.

"I want to have children too."

"How can we have children if we're light years away from one another?" she asked him. "I'm nearly thirty years old, there's nothing to wait for."

He looked at her, as serious as she had ever seen him.

"This isn't the best place for children."

"People have raised families in far worse circumstances."

"I spend a lot of time on the surface, I won't always be here." He was the Sub-Director of Agriculture. Reya was very proud that her husband had risen so high while he was still so young.

"It's still better."

"I guess." They were looking away from each other now, but their hands were still linked.

"I was hoping you'd be glad to see me." Reya said, her voice edge with something like heartbreak.

He smiled. Finally.

"I am" he told her. "Very glad to see you."

And then he kissed her.


End file.
